Silsbee cyclist takes on mission to spread ghost bikes

Richard Tomlinson installed a total of 13 ghost bikes this past weekend to memorialize the locations where Houston-area cyclists lost their lives.

Richard Tomlinson installed a total of 13 ghost bikes this past weekend to memorialize the locations where Houston-area cyclists lost their lives.

Photo: (Richard Tomlinson), Chuy Benitez

Photo: (Richard Tomlinson), Chuy Benitez

Image
1of/20

Caption

Close

Image 1 of 20

Richard Tomlinson installed a total of 13 ghost bikes this past weekend to memorialize the locations where Houston-area cyclists lost their lives.

Richard Tomlinson installed a total of 13 ghost bikes this past weekend to memorialize the locations where Houston-area cyclists lost their lives.

Photo: (Richard Tomlinson), Chuy Benitez

Silsbee cyclist takes on mission to spread ghost bikes

1 / 20

Back to Gallery

A Silsbee man has taken on a unique mission to make sure drivers do not forget the victims of fatal bicycle accidents.

Richard Tomlinson, a member of the Houston Ghost Bike group, is installing memorials all over the Bayou City.

Last week, he installed 13 ghost bikes — stripped bicycles painted all white.Each bike represents the death of one cyclist.

So far, Tomlinson has installed close to 40 memorials. By the time he is done, he will have attached 61 to the side of Houston roads.

Tomlinson, 50, said hopes he does not have to install any bikes past that night.

Tomlinson is spending his own money, made mostly by doing odd jobs, to memorialize fellow cyclists. By his estimate, he spent nearly 35 hours this weekend attaching bikes to fences and telephone poles with heavy duty chain. Every 60 feet of chain costs him $150, he says.

“I try to find the least objectionable piece of structure to attach it to, somewhere that won’t interfere with traffic or city work,” he said.

Tomlinson gets the bikes for the somber project from area cycling shops and from private donations. Some people have bikes in their garage they no longer ride or that have been damaged, but they want them to go to a good cause.

Each bike is stripped of its chain and gears, things that could get pulled off by people passing by. He paints them with white spray paint in his backyard in Silsbee. He welds the bikes so that they cannot be driven, in case someone removes them from where they have been installed.

Tomlinson is not responsible for all of Houston’s ghost bikes, but says he’s done most of the work. He says some friends and families of loved ones who have died while cycling prefer to do it themselves, and some don’t want the bike memorial at all, for various reasons.

In case that happens, all the bikes he’s installed have a sticker with his contact information so families can reach him either about removal or any other questions that they might have.

Tomlinson said his wife doesn’t want him to have a ghost bike of his own, so he’s sure to wear a helmet whenever he rides himself. He’s tried to instill bike safety in his six children and grandson when he can.

“Since I made the pact with my wife, I try to ask everyone whether they wear a helmet or not,” said Tomlinson.